Load bearing sound absorbing clay tile unit



Sept. 26, 1961 R. B. TAYLOR LOAD BEARING SOUND ABSORBING CLAY TILE UNITFiled Jan. 25, 1960 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 DkOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOO'OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO FIG] INVENTOR. ROBERT B.TAYLOR ATTO RN EYS Sept. 26, 1961 R. B. TAYLOR 3,001,602

LOAD BEARING SOUND ABSORBING CLAY TILE UNIT Filed Jan. 25, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. ROBERT B. TAYLOR ATTORNEYS a, Hawk/.5 east l r3,001,602 LOAD BEARING QSOUND .ABSORBING -CLA s hi'atf Robert B; Taylor,rElmhurst lll gss i gnor to strnctural clay Products Researcll Fol r Ieneva, Ill.-

Filed enis 1 st. .4

SCIainrs. ((3.

This invention "relates ts stn iserial slay prophet and moreparticularly it "rel'ates a}strlieti.ira1 "elay tile unit having soundabsorbing properties. I

An increasingly important demand in the construction of buildings isthat the materials used in buildings have acoustical properties "or;that materials havin acoustical or sound absorbing properties be appliedto themat rial out of which the building is eonstineted.- In this resct; there are many panels andveneers made of fibrous and fiber-glassmaterials which are attached toot-overlay the materials out of whieh'abuildingis eonstrticted 1 Clay tile blocks, which are formed into wellelements; ordinarily have relatively poor sound absorption aseacteristics. On the other hand, liy tile is a relatively good insulatoragainst the passage or transmission of sound from one roomto anadjoining room: The sound transmission loss in the passage of-soiirldwaves from one room to an adjoining usuall can be figured as a functionof the density and thickness of the tile; that is, the denser andthieker the tile, the greater the sound transmission loss.

Sound absorption'in a wall can be improved by providing resonatingchambers within the wen wherein sound is allowed to enter such chambersor cavities in a wall through apertures that are small with -r"ela tionto the volume of the cavities. The provision of such Chambers, however,by decreasing wall material thickness, ordinarily increases soundtransmission. 11i an acoustical wall con;- struction, therefore thefacilities that are best for sound transmission loss' are poorest forsound absorption whereas the facilities and features best for sonndabsorption are poorest for sound transmission loss,

In a tile wall element, it is highly desirable to provide an acousticaltile which is balanced in terms of sonnd transmission loss and soundabsorption while at the same time retaining sufiicient strength in thetile with a minimum of weight in the tile body. Accordingly, a majorurpose of the present invention is the provision of a load bearing walltile element which balanced acoustical properties in terms of arelatively high transmission loss and a relatively high sound absorbingproperty, while at the same time holding the weight of the tile to aminimum and roviding ade'qiiate load bearing strength.

There have been attempts made to have the materials out 'of which abuilding is constructed possess sound absorbing or acousticalproperties. One such form is shown in the prior art United States PatentNo. 2,281,121, issued to Mr. M. T. Straight. I have found that the unitshown therein does possess acoustical properties; but that theabsorption of sound 'waves of this type 'of unit is fairly low and theconstant control of the range of aeoustieal qualities is diflicu'lt.

A general object of this invention, thereforeis to provide a loadbearing structural clay tile unit having high sound absorbing qualities.

Another object of this invention is to provide a load bearing tile unitwhich will absorb and difliuse audible sound waves striking a wall orpartition made from the subject tile units to prevent reflection ofthe-sound waves to such an extent that undesirable echoes may beeliminated within the room or building formed of said tile units. .Q V 7Another object of this invention is to provide a load States Patent s3,001,602 Patented Sept. 26 1961 bearingelay tile unit which may be madeby and machinery new in eonimoii use by the meanteetsters ofclayunits. Il I I V Still another object or this invention is tb a load bearingstructural eley tile unit, uognzed o ceramic glazed, h avingjhigh soundabsorbing qual' e's which can be readily cleaned or provided with deetive substances, such as paint, after the tile units have been placedinto a wall or partition without interfering with the sound absorbingqualities "of the tile unit.

This invention contains additional novel features which make it aninexpensive anti practical unit to niannf'ae't ire and place into aWall. These and other objects and an vantages will hereinafter appear;and for purposes or illustration, but not limitation,- a preferred embodment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings,

1 in which face side 12 of the tile unit is positioned. The

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the exposed or face side of my newstru'ct iiral clay unit having sound absorbing qualities; and p 'FIGURE2 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 2- 2 of FlGURE 1; and a 1FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view 'of'a further ens bodiment of theinvention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the numeral 10 generallydesignates the new clay tile unit; The nay tile unit is preferablyformed of a plastic material having all the properties of a vitrifiedbuilding block strength, appearance and density and,- in most res (its;

is manufactured in the same manner as clay tile units are made today.

The tile unit 10 is comprised of the tisu'a'l exposed or false side 12,a back side 14, a bottom wall 16 and a top wall 18. Of course, the topand bottom walls they be inverted depending upon which way the exposedoi tile iiiiit may be provided with ribs 2% to present a greater areafor mortar (now shown) when the tile unit is laid into the wall to givegreater strength t o'the wall.

In the face side 12 of the tile unit 10, I have provided a plurality ofopenings 22 which extend into the cavity 24 formed by the back of theface side 12 or the unit and a web 26 which runs longitudinally andsubstantially eehtrally of the tile unit 10, as Well as between theinterior portions of the inner wall of the top and bottom walls 16 and18 respectively. The web thus provides a cavity 24 which as is seen inthe drawings has considerable height and width, the width approximatingat least one fourth of the Width of the block while the heightis atester portion of the height of the block. The cavity is this largeenough to provide a resonating chamber effect. The openings 22 may bemade by a conventional method such as punching them into a column ofclay while 'it is still in a plastic stage or by an'y other method knownin the set. The openings are preferably arranged in a design pattern, asshown in FIGURE 1; but of course, other design arrangements may be usedwithout departing from the spirit of this invention, so lenges theyattaintlle results The openings 22 are preferably of such a size as tope'r mit ready entrance of the audible sound waves ifitb'the cavity 24and the sound absorbing material 28 where the sound waves are absorbedand diffused. The openings 22 walls.

fire resistance of the tile.

' materials such as pencils and the like. This would especiallybe truein school buildings having walls made of as not to be clogged when 7 thesubject tile unit. I have found that a diameterof approximately 7/ of aninch accomplishes these objects and purposes withoutdetracting from thesound absorbing qualities ,of the unit.

Preferably, this invention having a glazed finish made with permanentporcelain finishes and the like, on the face side 12 of the unit 10. Asis well known, glazed'surfaces are impervious to acids,

stains,'smoke or soot; and can be easily cleaned with soap and water. Aglazed surface offers the additional advantages of easy and low-costmaintenance.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that the tile body has wallthicknesses such as to provide adequate load bearing" strength. Thecompressive strength 'of the tile so formed may be on the order of 3000lbs. per square inch or more, which is entirely satisfactory forbuilding The dimensions of a typical tile may be 4" x 5" x 12". The fourinch Width of the tile is divided into relatively'large internalcavities which are highly efiicient in terms of sound absorption. Soundwaves may pass through the apertures and into the cavity 24 so as V toprovide the aforementioned resonating chamber effect.

Absorption of the sound waves is enhanced by the fiberglass body in thecavity 24. At the same time, the tile element is highly effective indescreasing the transmission contemplates a tile unit 10 FIGURES 1 and2. In FIGURE 3, however, a single large cavity 41 is provided in thetile body which cavity 41 extends throughout the length of the body andhas a height of the body. The overall width of the resonating chamberformed by the cavity 41' in FIGURE 3 with'relation to the width of thetile body is greater than'the width of the cavity 24 in FIGURES 1 and 2.A plurality of apertures 42-similar to the apertures of the blocks inFIG URES 1 and 2, are spaced throughout the face of the tile and themajority of these apertures are in communication with the singleresonating chamber 41. In FIGURE 3, a

body of sound absorbent material such as fiberglass of the typeaforementioned; is positioned in the, cavity 41. This cavity 41, theslight degree ,of. compression of the1b'ody'43 of sound through the tilebody and into an adjoining 1' room.

For economy of construction, a satisfactory resonating chamber effect,high sound transmission loss and high sound absorption, the fiberglassfilled cavity should have a width of at least of an inch, a height of atleast one inch, and a length equal to the lengthof the tile. The heightmay be as much as five to eight inches in large tile elements providingthe increased height in. a specific unit is shown by test to not reducethe strength of the unit below that neededfor load bearing purposes. Thecentral web serves to strengthen the tile body and at the same time, byproviding a dead air space,.provides what is generally equivalent to thesame thickness of tile ifthe dead air space were not present. In otherwords,

properties, as generally equivalent to solid tile of this dimension. Theuse of the central web also increases the The central Web provides acavity of practical dimensions for the resonating chamber effect and forholding the fibrous pad in place.

The fiberglass body may be provided from fiberglass in the sheet form.Fiberglass-has a relatively low density. It may be as low as one poundper cubic foot. The body of asheet of fiberglass, as is well known,consists of many fibres which are more or less interlaced with asubstantial portion of the volume of such a sheet being consumed by airspaces. This type of material is highly effective as a sound absorbent.The many fibres of the body tend to break up and disperse sound waves.

It is advantageous to have the fiberglass body of a width slightlygreater than the width of the cavity. For

example, in the case of a cavity having a width in a tile having a 3%overall width, the fiberglass sheet is effective in exerting anexpandingoutward force so as to hold the body of sound absorbent material withinthe cavity. a

, In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, the wallthickness of the tile may beslightly greater than the wall thickness of the tile body ill-FIGURES land 2 so as to insure adequate'strength. The desired proportions andsizes of the tile body, apertures-and cavities set forth with regard tor the form in FIGURE 1 are also applicable to the form of FIGURE 3.

v In both forms of the invention, the sound. absorbent tile element hasaweight generally equivalent to that of normal hollow tile elements andat the same time has generally the same load bearing strength.

For light weight, while providing relatively large internal chambers,the volume of the tile material in the body overall should beapproximately 7 5%;or less than the volume of the tile body.

The tile elements, when formed in the manner herein described, have amuch superior sound absorbing-char- V acteristic and agreatersoundtransmissionloss than that of ordinary hollow tiles. In thisrespect, the apertures in the face of the tile allow the transmissionof. sound waves to the'interior of the tile body and. minimizerefiection thereof. By'providing the relatively large resonating chamberin the tile body and the fiberglass insert, sound absorption is greatlyenhanced. The tile also has a relatively high sound transmission loss.

Theapertures in the face of the tile, elements have such a size and areso spaced that they do not detract materially from the strength of thewall section in which these apertures are located. The cross-sectionalarea of all of the apertures should be in the range of 5 to 18 percentof the area of the tile face in which they are located. At the sametime, each aperture should be relatively small and of the dimensionaforementioned. The arrangement of the apertures over the. entire facialarea of the tile with the substantial portion of these apertures .incommunication with the large internal cavities of hollow tile elementsprovides the resonating chamber effect without destroying the wallsupporting and load bearing strength properties of the tile. V

In sound absorbing tests of units comprising this invention, theRiverbank Acoustical Laboratories reports that these tile units have asound absorption of .60 or 60 percent which is. substantially higher,than tests conducted upon tile units of the type shown in United StatesPatent No. 2,281,121. I

Thus, it will be seen that I have provided a load bearing clay tile unitwhich is capable of being laid in partition walls of a building or inthe exterior walls,'and at Additionally, I have provided a soundabsorbing claytile unit which can be manufactured in substantially thesame manner and with the sameequiprnent as used to manufacture and makeordinary tile units with the exception that a perforating machine isnecessary to place the openings 22 into the tile.

Whereas the invention is shown and described, as using circular holes 22in the tile wall, it should be understood that the holes may have othershapes, as for example, square or triangular shapes. 7

This application is a continuation-in-part of my copending applicationSerial No. 475,768, filed on December 16, 1954, which application is nowabandoned.

Although I have shown and described a specific embodiment of myinvention, I am fully aware that modifications are possible. Myinvention, therefore, is to be limited only by the spirit of theappended claims as equivalents, obviously, can be substituted within theskill of the mechanic without departing from the principle of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A load bearing acoustical tile comprising a tile body having top,bottom, front and rear walls of clay-like material, said walls havingthicknesses such as to have substantial strength and to .be load bearingwhen a plurality of such bodies are superimposed upon one another toform a building wall, said front wall providing an exposed front face,said body having an opening therethrough from end to end, said openingbeing substantially filled with low density fibrous material, the frontface of said body having apertures therein over substantially its entirearea extending from the opening through said front face.

2. A load bearing acoustical tile comprising a tile body having top,bottom, front and rear Walls of clay-like inaterial, said walls havingthicknesses such as to have substantial strength and to be load bearingwhen a plurality of such bodies are superimposed upon one another toform a building wall, said front wall providing an exposed front face,said body, having an opening therethrough from end to end, said openingbeing substantially filled with low density fibrous sheet Fiberglassmaterial having substantial air spaces between the fibers thereof, thefront face of said body having apertures therein over substantially itsentire area extending from the opening through said front face.

3. A load bearing acoustical tile comprising a tile body having top,bottom, front and rear walls of clay-like material, said walls havingthicknesses such as to have substantial strength and to be load bearingwhen a plurality of such bodies are superimposed upon one another toform a building wall, the walls of the tile body comprisingapproximately 75% or less of the volume of the overall body, said frontwall providing an exposed front face,

said body having an opening therethrough from end to end, said openingbeing substantially filled with low density fibrous material, the frontface of said body having apertures therein over substantially its entirearea extending from the opening through said front face.

4. A load bearing acoustical tile comprising a tile body having top,bottom, front and rear walls of clay'like material, said wall-s havingthicknesses such as to have substantial strength and to be load bearingwhen a plurality of such bodies are superimposed upon one another toform a buildingwall, said front wall providing an exposed front face,said body having an opening therethrough. from end to end, said openinghaving a width at least equal to approximately 4 of the width of theoverall tile body, said opening being substantially filled with lowdensity fibrous material, the front face of said body having aperturestherein over substantially its entire area extending from the openingthrough said front face, said opening having a height such that asubstantial number of vertically spaced apertures are horizontallyopposed to said opening.

5. A load bearing acoustical tile comprising a. tile body having top,bottom, front and rear walls of clay-like material, said wall-s havingthicknesses such as to have substantial strength and to be load hearingwhen a plurality of such bodies are superimposed upon one another toform a building wall, said front wall providing an exposed front face,said body having a central vertically extending web in the interiorthereof, said web dividing the interior of said body into two openings,the opening adjacent to said front face being substantially filled withlow density fibrous material, the front face of said body havingapertures therein over substantially its entire area extending from theopening through said front face, the other opening in said bodyproviding a dead air space.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,660,745 Delaney Feb. 28, 1928 2,007,130 Munroe et al July 2, 19352,281,121 Straight Apr. 28, 1942 2,362,859 Rosenblatt Nov. 14, 19442,681,865 Heine June 22, 1954 2,911,076 Saunders et a1 Nov. 3, 19592,933,146 Zaldastani et a1. Apr. 19, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 461,314 GreatBritain Feb. 8, 1937 643,181 Great Britain Sept. 15, 1950 984,773 FranceFeb. 28, 1951

